His Poll Strike Rate Less Than 50 Per Cent, Yogi Says Congress Won Heartland Through Deceit

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has downplayed the Congress victory over the Bharatiya Janata Party in three Hindi heartland states, and also rejected suggestions that his comment on Lord Hanuman’s caste had antagonised voters.

Adityanath, who had emerged as the most sought-after campaigner for the BJP in these elections, said the Congress had won by deceit but added that the party has accepted its defeat with humility. “The Congress' lies will start unravelling soon, and that will make our future battles even easier,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Addressing reporters at Patna’s Mahavir temple, the firebrand BJP leader said victories and defeats are part of the democratic process and one should accept both outcomes in all humility.

"We never bask in our victories while blaming our defeats on electronic voting machines (EVMs),” he said, referring to the Congress. “When they win, they immediately start worshipping the EVMs," he claimed, hitting out at the perceived double standards.

He also denied making a comment on Lord Hanuman’s caste in Rajasthan ahead of the polls. The UP CM was widely quoted as having said that Hanuman was a Dalit, even though some have disputed this version, claiming that he just said the deity took every community along.

The remark had not only created a furore in the poll-bound state, but also in Uttar Pradesh, where Dalit groups have demanded that management of Hanuman’s temples should be handed over to them.

"I did not say anything about Bajrang Bali's caste. I only said that Lord Hanuman resides in spirituality, and spirituality exists in people of all caste," he said on Wednesday.

The controversies that Adityanath created during his campaign, however, didn’t necessarily translate into votes for the BJP. He had addressed 74 rallies in the four states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh but his strike rate was a little less than 50 per cent.

The Congress has stormed to power in all three Hindi heartland states, while the KCR wave swept Telangana.